Taiwan Life in Brief – August 2019

EVA Air flight attendants in a sit-down demonstration as part of their strike. Photo: Martti Chen

EVA Air Strike Causes Heavy Losses

The 17-day strike by EVA Air
flight attendants that began on June 20 caused the airline nearly US$1 billion
in losses. The strike caused some 1,400 flights to be canceled, affecting over
200,000 passengers. The strikers demanded higher wages, EVA agreement to a “no-free ride” policy that would
exclude non-striking flight attendants from any wage gains won by the union,
and a seat on EVA’s executive board for a flight attendant representative. In part, the
EVA flight attendants were inspired by the China Airlines strike three years
ago in which the union’s demands were all met.

The strike ended when the
union agreed to accept higher daily bonuses from EVA instead of the increased
hourly wages they had originally bargained for. The union also failed to win a
seat on EVA’s
board.

Han to Head KMT Presidential Ticket

Han Kuo-yu, the new mayor of Kaohsiung, is already running for another position – President. Photo: Eason Lam

The Kuomintang (KMT) announced
July 14 that Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu had won the primary election to be
party’s
nominee in the balloting for President to take place January 11.

The primary was conducted
through telephone surveys of over 15,000 people. Participants were asked to
rate each of the five candidates against incumbent President Tsai Ing-Wen of
the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and against one another.

Han won the nomination with
45% of the vote, compared to 28% for billionaire businessman Terry Gou. New
Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu was third with 17.9%. Gou resigned as chairman of
giant electronics company Foxconn last April in order to focus on his campaign.

Han is considered to be more
willing than President Tsai to try to improve relations with China. He has been
criticized for accepting support from “Red Media” – outlets that are sympathetic to Beijing. But
following the protests over extradition in Hong Kong, Han stated that he would
accept unification with China “over my dead body.”

Han’s platform is primarily focused on closing the infrastructure gap between North and South Taiwan, as well as minimizing the wealth gap between these regions. He has encountered criticism in Kaohsiung for running for president so soon after being elected mayor of the southern city last November. Early polls give incumbent President Tsai Ing-wen a marginal lead.

Smuggling Case Costs Security Chief His Job

Taiwan’s
intelligence chief, Peng Sheng-chu, resigned when two of his agents were caught
attempting to smuggle over US$200,000 worth of cigarettes into Taiwan in
connection with President Tsai’s diplomatic tour to the Caribbean. The agents,
who were assigned to the President’s security detail for the trip, conducted the
scam by purchasing some 9,800 cartons of cigarettes online in Taiwan, then
storing them in a warehouse at the airport before attempting to circumvent
customs inspection by using the VIP lane at Taoyuan Airport when re-entering
the country. President Tsai was described as “shocked and angered” about the scandal.

Peng, a retired air force
general, had been Director-General of Taiwan’s National Security Bureau since 2016. He will
be succeeded by Minister of Veterans Affairs Chiu Kuo-cheng, also a former
general.

Ellie Koepplinger is a Communications and Editorial intern at AmCham Taipei in the summer of 2019. She currently studies Economics and Chinese at UC Berkeley, where her research centers around racial inequality within US higher education.

Taiwan Business TOPICS

Taiwan Business TOPICS is published monthly by the American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei, and covers current topic affecting business conditions in Taiwan, an Industry Focus section on a particular industrial sector, and other reports prepared by the magazine’s staff of experienced professional journalists.